A TEAM of students from Coleg Sir Gâr have won gold in the Video Moving Image, final of a national skills competition.
Skills Competition Wales is a Welsh Government-backed series of events designed to celebrate vocational skills and create a highly skilled Welsh workforce for the future.
With Olympic athletes training hard for the imminent games in Rio, Aaron Taylor, 27; Eve Bryan, 16; Ryan Kimber, 17 and 18-year-old Benjamin Richards are just four of 78 Welsh youngsters who have been perfecting their skills in a bid to win a medal. Across a range of vocations from graphic design to patisserie, these budding skilled champions, like Olympians, may go on to challenge competitors from other nations.
Aaron, Eve, Ryan and Benjamin, from Coleg Sir Gâr, competed against 19 other students from across Wales. Finalists had to present a 10 minute film to a panel of judges and answer questions on the composition, effects and filming techniques of their production.
The team are all studying to achieve a BTEC level 3 in Creative Media Production, said they are thrilled to have won.
“On the day of the competition we were really nervous about presenting our work to the judges but they seemed to love the film. We’d been working on it since last November, so winning the competition felt like our hard work finally paid off.
“The next step for us is to prepare for the next stage of the competition and we’d also like to enter our film into some local film festival competitions. The film is set in the 1920s and is about woman who suffers an abusive relationship regaining control of her life – we think it can go far but we also have to concentrate on making a new film for the national skills competition later this year.”
Skills Competition Wales forms part of the Welsh Government’s Growth and Sustainable Jobs Programme, designed to promote the importance of vocational skills with the aim of boosting the overall skill capabilities and prosperity of Wales.
The campaign is supported by the European Social Fund and the Welsh Government, and run by a network of colleges and work based learning providers, a total of 33 local Skills Competitions will be taking place between February and April, in a range of sectors from forensic science and car mechanics to web design and nail art.
The team may go forward to represent Coleg Sir Gâr in the Video Moving Image WorldSkills UK heat, with the aim of potentially representing Team Wales at this year’s Skills Show in Birmingham in November.
Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, Julie James AM said:
“Year on year the level of talent at Skills Competition Wales keeps on improving. These events encourage healthy competition and are a great way of recognising the fantastic talent that we have in our country.
“Colleges and work-based learning providers across Wales are already involved in the Skills Competition Wales initiative and have played a huge part in organising the heats and finals, but we’re keen to see more Welsh businesses support their talented young employees and encourage them to enter.”
The Deputy Minister added: “It takes a lot of hard work to get to the final round but to win gold is a fantastic achievement. It is clear that all the competitors are extremely passionate and determined to be named the best in Wales.
“We wish Aaron, Eve, Ryan and Benjamin and all the other finalists and winners the very best of luck, not only in the next round of the competitions, but also in their future careers.”
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